


Parallel Lines

by Viridian5



Series: Not in Our Stars [2]
Category: The X-Files
Genre: Drama, Episode Related, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 1999-05-16
Updated: 1999-05-16
Packaged: 2017-10-02 07:59:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Viridian5/pseuds/Viridian5
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Do Mulder and Krycek have things in common? Krycek certainly thinks so.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Parallel Lines

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers for "Gethsemane," "Redux," and "Drive."
> 
> While it can stand alone, this story is a sequel to "Oblique." Second in the "Not in Our Stars" series, as in:  
> _"The fault ... is not in our stars,  
> But in ourselves, that we are underlings."_  
> \-- Cassius, "Julius Caesar" Act 1, Scene 2
> 
> Inspired by [InfoSpace Daily Horoscopes](http://pic1.infospace.com/_1_165483437__info/horo.html?) (© 1999 Kelli Fox and Astrology.Net™) I found in a link from MSN.com's page. The horoscope at the end of this story is one of those.
> 
> Written with tracks 4-7, 9, and 10 on _The Matrix_ soundtrack for atmosphere, especially "Clubbed to Death (Kurayamino Mix)" by Rob D and the Lunatic Calm song mentioned below.
> 
> Righteous beta by Feklar, with spot consulting by Ladonna.

_"I want to take you on a roller coaster.  
I want to tell you that I'm feeling closer.  
I want to push it right over the line,  
I want to push it right over the line,  
The line that you draw when you draw me near.  
The line that you draw when you draw me near.  
I want I want I want I want I want I want I want I want  
I want to leave you far behind..."_  
 -- "Leave You Far Behind" by Lunatic Calm  
\---------------------------------------------------------------

I knew the instant I walked into my apartment that something was wrong, off. The darkness had a weird quality of studied stillness, far too quiet and still to be that way naturally.

I heard a gun being cocked somewhere in front of me, then behind me, and dove to the floor. The explosions of fire and flashes of light ripping the darkness me left me disoriented but not enough to keep me from reaching for my own weapon. Before I got it loose, a gun poked into my spine.

"It's been a while since we had a nice chat," Krycek said.

"We've never had a nice chat," I answered.

"Then there's a first time for everything."

The bastard must have some kind of bizarre homing signal on me, because he usually appeared when my life was the most fucked up. A man's head had detonated behind me just a day ago. For hours afterward, I couldn't help wondering if Scully would have thought me less of a man if I'd asked her to hold me until the sound and horror of Mr. Crump's head exploding didn't seem so loud in my memory.

I hadn't asked, of course.

But now Krycek stood in my apartment with a gun on me, again, while I wasn't at my best. Again.

"I just saved your life. Get up, turn on the light, and see, Mulder."

Since it would help me too, I did. A man who could have been Everythug was slumped, very dead and quite bloody, over the arm of my couch. Krycek had emptied a full clip into him, leaving parts of his body looking like ground meat. It was bad enough that he had tried to ambush me, but did he have to drip blood and brain matter on my favorite piece of furniture?

This had to be numbness talking. Shock. Had to be.

I slowly turned to look at my "rescuer." Last time we'd met, Krycek had been dressed for Casual Friday at an office. I buried memories of him pinning me against an alley wall... Tonight, he looked like a noveau riche, hip urban professional in a tailored suit that had a bit of an edge, completely unlike the cheap, ill-fitting suits he'd worn as my partner. The glossy black fabric of the pants begged to be touched...

No. I wouldn't go there, and I wouldn't let myself miss the leather jacket. I would tell myself that I preferred the leather jacket because it marked him as the street thug he was.

Even aside from the expensive clothing, he looked g-- healthy, rested. He used to look haunted and worn, his life of selling secrets to anyone while being hunted by everyone taking its toll on his body. The Conspiracy must have taken him back in.

It didn't surprise me. How could that group possibly harp on loyalty?

"I only have your word that he was here to kill me."

"Oh, sure, he could have been here to kidnap you and pick your brain, which wouldn't be too bad."

I didn't answer. I wasn't up to a verbal duel with him, especially if he really had saved my life, even if only for his own reasons.

Somehow it figured that if I had to have a guardian angel, it would be Lucifer.

"I told you about factions in the Syndicate," he said. "This idiot is from one that's too impatient to let the Smoking Bastard's plan work."

"Which is?"

"Bore you to death until you give up. You can't handle doing a job that doesn't challenge you. Welcome to the work life of 98.9% of the world's population." Before I could protest that, he smirked and asked, "What did you do to your hair? Fall into a hedge clipper? And you sneer at my 'stupid-ass haircuts.'"

"Fuck you, Krycek."

"You should watch what you wish for." The gun traced a light line down my back. "I have an offer for you, Mulder."

My stupid mouth asked, "You're propositioning me, Krycek?" Maybe I should just cut out my tongue; it would make my life easier.

He ignored that in favor of walking slowly around me in a close circle. "Are you happy with your job at the moment?"

He wasn't even touching me, but I felt his presence on my skin like an itch. "What do you think?"

Around and around... "Your talents are being wasted on busywork. Your boss seems to get his main source of entertainment out of fucking with you. It was fun at first ducking out on Old Man Kersh to do X-Files anyway, but sneaking out and watching your back all the time tires you out." I felt his gun stroke down my arm for a moment. "I know what that's like."

"We have nothing in common."

"You know better, Mulder. We both know that it never stops on its own; you have to take matters into your own hands."

I bit my tongue hard. I would not say it, I would not say it... It would just needle him uselessly.

"You sure you don't want to say anything? Good. I think we can come to an agreement."

"I don't make pacts with the devil."

"But they're so lucrative." He stopped behind me suddenly, and I could hear him inhale. Warm breath stirred the hairs at the nape of my neck. "What have you been into? You smell like blood," he purred.

Still? I spent hours washing afterward. I shivered. "It's nothing you need to know."

He shrugged. "Whatever. So, the deal is this: you keep flouting Kersh's authority, and I'll take the conspiracy's leaders down from the inside. Simple. Nothing you wouldn't want to do." I realized that he wasn't walking around me in a circle, but in a spiral, moving closer and closer in to me at every revolution.

Why was he suggesting this? Was it reverse psychology? Was I supposed to become a good little drone for Kersh once Krycek told me he _wanted_ me to disobey my new AD?

My mind went into overdrive trying to figure out the angles. What he wanted me to believe versus what the truth was. He always had at least three separate agendas running at once.

He drove me crazy. But I missed the challenge when he wasn't around.

This close, I realized that he still smelled faintly of leather. The scent of that and gunmetal helped me remember that, no matter how many different personae he took on, he remained the same at the core.

"You can't expect me to believe that you're going to take down the Conspiracy just to help me," I said.

His eyes echoed his sharp, gleaming smile. "There's nothing wrong in killing two birds." He moved in closer just when I thought he couldn't possibly. "I know a secret," he said into my ear, sounding as if that was the greatest aphrodisiac.

Frighteningly enough, he was right. I shivered from the breath at my ear and sneered, "Only one?"

"No, but this one's more important. You're not going to ask what it is?"

"If I did, I don't think you'd tell me."

"Isn't it strange to be right for once?"

Then he was kissing me, and I was kissing him. To my surprise, he tasted of peppermint. His gun, so close to being a little too hot, stroked my cheekbone in a rhythmic pattern and spoke of danger, pleasure, and near-pain. The fabric of his suit felt as good as it looked, smooth and warm, almost stroking my hand back. Under it, he felt solid and hard, strong.

I told myself that I was feeling vulnerable, looking for comfort from any source available--

Fuck it. I knew why I was doing this.

As good as it felt to have him here, doing this, it seemed almost anticlimactic. Inevitable. We'd been heading here too long for this to be a surprise.

When he parted our lips a moment for a breath, he took advantage of the break to rub his face against mine. Marking me? The catch of stubble and odd sensuality of the move almost undid me right then, but it also gave me a chance to realize that I was making out in front of a corpse with its killer. I couldn't quite decide if that was a turn-on or turn-off.

Eerily reading my mind, Krycek said, "I could close his eyes if that's bothering you."

Or he could just have noticed the direction I kept glancing in. "I... can't do this." Inevitability didn't mean I couldn't fight.

His smile looked only slightly patronizing. "Sure, you can. Maybe not tonight, but eventually."

He smelled of secrets, danger, and sex. He made me tolerate things I never should just to keep him with me. "No."

"Do you want me to go, then?"

No. Yes. Shit.

He wasn't supposed to give up so easily. It disturbed the hell out of me. Was he really so certain that I'd come around sooner or later?

He finally holstered his gun and crouched next to the body. "At least help me dispose of the corpse. I made it saving your worthless ass."

I hadn't had a corpse in my living room for... oh, almost a year now. That time I'd used it as a stand-in for me, and I didn't appreciate the reminder of the ruthless deceit I'd used then. I _didn't_ have anything in common with Krycek, but he just couldn't be happy unless I was complicit.

I couldn't call the police on this; even if I explained the scene as a break-in I'd foiled, I'd still have to deal with the questioning, paperwork, and suspicious stares of cops who were called to this apartment far too often. I also couldn't let the body rot here, and I had no doubt that Krycek would walk away to let me deal with it alone if I refused to help him.

I crouched down near the corpse, filling my eyes with the ravaged flesh. This had been done for me.

"I have a plastic shower curtain in the hall closet near the bathroom." Wonderful what uses I made of my profiler background.

He nuzzled my neck, short hair caressing my ear, before he stood and said, "That's my boy."

I'd forgotten that the devil always started to collect on his debts immediately.

 

### End

 

_Libra_  
Your career may not be headed in the direction you think it should  
be. Your stellar performance may bring yawns from those you  
hoped to impress. Don't take it too personally when someone  
doesn't understand you. Keep doing the same thing, but take steps  
to change the perceptions of others. Turn a problem into a  
challenging solution! You could be in for a surprise if you haven't  
been paying attention lately. Someone assumes that you made an  
agreement, and is still waiting for you to perform. Just because you  
don't think you've made a covenant is no excuse for ignoring it.


End file.
